Bones II Club Fund

Last year, we were fortunate enough to get in on the original Reaper Bones Kickstarter.  This year, Reaper's giving us another go around with Bones II - a new set of minis made with the company's new material.  We liked the original package so much that this time, we've gone in for almost twice as much as we put in last year - and next fall when we get our Bones II, we'll be getting a huge package of minis for a fraction of what it would cost us in any other medium, or at any other time.

The funding period for Bones II has passed, but we're still collecting funds to add more to our package.  Already we've raised quite a bit, but everyone has their favorite pieces they want to see added to the club's miniature vault.  For that reason, I thought I'd provide a list of the sections that we're getting so far.

• Core Set
• Expansion #1
• Greater Demons
• Gelatinous Cubes
• Demon Lords
• Devils
• Dungeon Decor
• Mouselings
• Dragons Don't Share II
• Thank You
• Hill Giants

If you see a set on the Bones II page that you would like to see added to the Wargate's vault, drop me a line here and we'll get on the funding.  We're still looking at adding Expansion #3, and possibly Expansion #2 as well.  We're on our way to having most of these Bones in our set already, but take some time and go over it at least once more.

We have until near the end of December to fund everything we like, which is a long time for a collective like we have.  We'll most likely take the final sums for Bones II a little after Krampus Day this year, so we'll keep it open for at least another month.  This Bones Kickstarter is going to be as awesome as the first one...so make sure you grab what you like now!  They will be much more expensive once they hit the store shelves, and this is too great an opportunity to miss.

Let us know what you think about the new Bones II promotion, and how we've handled it for the club.  With the way we've been operating in the last two years, we're likely to see more club activities like this.  Who knows...maybe there will be a Bones III next year...

And Now, A Word From Fekul-Hoof

Today's article comes from Jerry Wargate, who recently won (again) our Warhammer Fantasy Battle campaign The Brightflow Gap.  Jerry's done well recently in our campaigns, and his armies are one of the main reasons the Wargate is such a horrible place, filled with monstrous creatures, nasty warped mutants and general vitriol.

I wanted to put down in writing any strategy, technique, or thoughts I have on this recent end to this particular Wissenland Campaign.  I send out a big shout out to Dave Bone for concocting, arranging, and documenting this event week after week, his efforts to shape and create fun campaigns and events is the life blood of our club.  Big shout to Cap’n Video who was the fuhrer minor of my campaign battles and map movements in my leave during this campaign (had to work!), this year he really came through in some tight places and made some awesome games and moves happen.  Also an Accolade goes out to all competing generals that participated… General Jake, Bone Lord Skimulah, Iron Gut Joe, General Bone, and General Greg… without friends to play there is no game.  Weekend after weekend these fellahs have shown up and taken time to enjoy the sport and share in brotherhood with friends and family. Hurrah Wargate!

Okay now to the details I want to point out. This was the build I used the most at 1000pts:

• Fekul Hoof – Lvl 4 Great Bray Shaman (Lore of the Wild) – 235pts
• Feebs – Lvl 2 Bray Shaman (Lore of Beasts) – 125pts
• Sacks the Giant – 225pts
• Gor Herd (20 Gors w/ 2 hand weps, 1 banner, 1 musician, 1 Boss Gor) – 185pts
• Gor Herd (20 Gors w/ 2 hand weps, 1 banner, 1 musician, 1 Boss Gor) – 185pts

Total:  955pts 

This is a super light detachment in its structure.  We are talking two bases of 20 Gors, who aren’t well armored at all the way I build them (no saves), a Giant, and two spell casters.  The real fist is in the spell workings.  If both casters take the same spell list, one will get the spell I want.  On average I rolled Fekul’s four spells first and feebs last for his last two.  Focusing on Fekul getting the Savage Dominion spell to summon more giants is my first priority, as Feebs  makes an excellent jack of all trades on the table.  Sometimes Feebs will get Transformation of Kadon but its still not all bad, as Fekul will switch spots and roam the table with the herds using his powers to make chaos.

Reserving one unit of Gors for Beastman Ambush is a must!  On average I come out in a bad spot on the table but when I do roll good it can sway the tide for me.  Arriving directly behind an enemy breaks more morale and makes more sad faces than almost any other play I've seen on our table top.

I make a priority to keep my Giant Summoner Caster hidden and out of sight.  This is my key piece as he summons Giants that arrive almost anywhere on the table.  This is the bread and butter.  Primal Fury is an awesome advantage when it rolls right.  To reroll misses in hand to hand is epic!  It made a few battles go down in a flash.

Giants… Okay here it is.  They are awesome havoc makers and life takers but like all things in Warhammer they have their weaknesses as well.  Other than being totally clumsy, falling down a lot, and being a complete arrow and battle magnet they are awesome pieces to field all around.

I feel the tactics I used most were the most simple.  Don’t be afraid to change plans during the battle as far as movements go.  Beastmen move 10 inches at a march and eat up distance quickly.  Reforming a spearhead movement must be done, sometimes twice in a battle before hand to hand is made.  If disreguard is made for this idea you will never get 1 Gor into Hand to Hand, their low leadership of 7 makes it an easy “Run Away” squad, so use Gors wisely!

Also the spell Viletide is an awesome warmachine breaker.  5D6 Str 1 hits!  You're gonna roll a couple 6s!
All in all I enjoyed this campaign and send out a big awesome to all who participated.  I am thrilled to have won with so much more aggressive and hostile opposition than last year.  This was no give away game.  Ill be looking forward for the next engagements.

- Jerry Wargate, October 2013

The Toropets-Kholm Offensive

It's early January, 1942 here at the Wargate.  We've been schlepping tanks to the Eastern Front for a while now, and just yesterday signed off on a huge transfer of men and equipment that will take the war all the way into the next phase.  Yes, it's Flames of War season once again.

Our campaign this year already has it's page up, so check out the State of Play on the right.  Since we have a lot of new folks jumping in and participating this year, we're keeping the mechanics of the three month ordeal to a minimum.  There are two teams, and those teams accrue Influence as battles are played.  Easy - but don't worry all you crunch-kins out there.  You still have the Flames of War rules themselves to come to grips with, and it is an excellently designed set of gaming conventions that are pretty easy to figure out even if they are somewhat removed from some of the ideas you might possess if you live your life in a Games Workshop hole.

Yet it's how we structure the campaigns overall that is the most interesting part of our venture for me.  Each campaign will document the Eastern Front over the course of the war, inching ahead one month at a time.  We have looked at several major engagements to make sure the guns will be barking somewhere in Russia or Germany the entire time.

We are going to remain faithful to the historic tales, changing them only where they must be changed to fit our particular continuum.  For example, during the real Toropets-Kholm offensive armored support was very limited for the Russians, amounting some 13 tanks (mostly the tiny T-60).  For our battle, the tank forces are portrayed by my T-34 and KV-1s tanks - up gunning the Russians considerably.  The Germans have more than they had historically as well, with Heer artillery batteries and Waffen SS Gepanzerte Panzergrenadiers.  That's ok - it's just a game.  Yet, the narrative will follow the historical one...with just a few fictional tweaks to make it relevant to us here in our time and space.

To find out more about the historical operations, Wikipedia is a good place to start.  Desertwar.net has a lot of information on all the operations and conflicts you care to research, but the section on Toropets-Kholm lead to some interesting insights.  It's not a secret I'm a Soviet sympathizer, but I encourage you to do your own research.  Maybe you'll come to the same conclusion that I did - that WWII was darker and grimmer than any hand-me-down grim dark future someone can imagine.